Rugby league’s $100m plan to stop game dying in former heartland

[bondi-boy]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...da4ffbef41dc9f
PHIL ROTHFIELD, sports editor-at-large, The Sunday Telegraph
May 7, 2017 12:00am




Subscriber only

THE NRL is planning an emergency $100 million rescue strategy to stop the mass *exodus of junior players in western Sydney that is threatening the code’s future.

Alarming statistics show registration numbers have plummeted as much as 15 per cent in an area that was once the game’s heartland. One *official told The Sunday Telegraph: “At this rate our game will be dead in 10 years.”
There is clear evidence parents are concerned about brutal body-contact and are steering their children towards less intense forms of footy including Oztag and touch football, which have both had significant player increases in the past two years.
Junior NRL registration numbers in Parramatta, the western suburbs and Canterbury are down more than 10 per cent and Penrith to a *lesser extent.
At the same time Australian rules football numbers in Sydney’s west are climbing at a rate of 15 per cent on the back of the code’s multimillion-dollar grassroots blitz and the emergence of the GWS Giants as the *hottest team in the AFL and favourites to win this year’s premiership.
“It would be irresponsible to be blasé about what is happening,” says NSW Rugby League chief executive Dave Trodden. “In some areas age groups are down 30 per cent.”
The most alarming statistic is that first-time participant registrations are down by 20 per cent.
Only the Cronulla junior league has had an increase this year on the back of the Sharks premiership.
Australian rules appears to be the biggest threat to rugby league in Sydney’s west. Participation continues to rise across NSW with double-digit growth in 2016 and a strong start to the 2017 season.
Since 2010 and the introduction of GWS, overall local registrations in Australian rules have more than doubled. There are now more Oztag and touch football players than rugby league players in Parramatta.

THE SIZE ISSUE
Rugby league has had a huge influx of Polynesian players in the last decade. They are bigger, stronger and more powerful than their caucasian rivals in their early teens.
Even in Under 13s, some boys weigh over 100kg and compete against rivals less than half their body weight.


etc

[bondi-boy]

Also parents disillusioned with refereeing in the NRL?

Are we any good at touch footy?

Game not dying in the East?

[kakaruk]

Hes right about the age thing,When i was coming thru the schoolboys comp in PNG they changed to a weight based schoolboys comp although the main reason was probably most didn't have a birth certificate and you were playing against some schoolboys with beards but it worked ok.I remember playing NSW in under 9 stone7 a couple of times so they must have been using the weight system then in Australia.

[The Axe]

Nz rugby has got it right.

Juniors have two divisions per age group based on weight. Than As to Zs on ability.

No club rugby in senior school until seniors. Represent your school.. don't burn out and injury is these years if growth and wide disparity of size. Easy to implement

[Freddy]

Yes the NRL needs to do something to increase junior participation but it's not only the West they need to worry about. In the East, which is the toughest sporting market in the country with the Roosters battling the Swans,SYD FC,and Waratahs all on the same doorstep. The 3 other clubs are given 20 development officers each by their sporting bodies while the NRL gives the Roosters 1.. Yes only 1. Bit rich now for the NRL to say they need to do something

[Guest]

the polynesian youth issue is the elephant in the room people have been too afraid to talk about for years i see some of these kids who are dressed in school uniform and physically look like they could play nrl and theyre probably 13 to 15 years old parents just dont want their kids to be murdered on field by players twice as big as them easts used to have a big fat polynesian prop that came off the bench in the 20s and it took 4 or 5 players to bring him down whatever happened to that guy most of these players have no talent theyre just getting by on their size

[Kingbilly]

Big ****ing whoop.
There are plenty of leagues clubs out there, let them fund it.
The NRL are a bunch of outright hypocrites, RL is almost dead in the country and they don't send a single cent out there.
But no lets put money to an area that already has alot of RL money and ignore the places that really need it.

The reason that the numbers are reducing is because the NRL only are about first grade and corporate sponsors, no one else

[Tommy Smith]

Big ****ing whoop.
There are plenty of leagues clubs out there, let them fund it.
The NRL are a bunch of outright hypocrites, RL is almost dead in the country and they don't send a single cent out there.
But no lets put money to an area that already has alot of RL money and ignore the places that really need it.

The reason that the numbers are reducing is because the NRL only are about first grade and corporate sponsors, no one else

And they're too dumb to realise that grassroots rugby league has the greatest influence on the future success of the NRL.

Greenturd and Grant are so incompetent that they should be removed immediately through whatever means necessary.

They're a threat to the very future of the game.

[Tommy Smith]

Big ****ing whoop.
There are plenty of leagues clubs out there, let them fund it.
The NRL are a bunch of outright hypocrites, RL is almost dead in the country and they don't send a single cent out there.
But no lets put money to an area that already has alot of RL money and ignore the places that really need it.

The reason that the numbers are reducing is because the NRL only are about first grade and corporate sponsors, no one else

And they're too dumb to realise that grassroots rugby league has the greatest influence on the future success of the NRL.

Greenturd and Grant are so incompetent that they should be removed immediately through whatever means necessary.

They're a threat to the very future of the game.

[Headless Chook]

Big ****ing whoop.
There are plenty of leagues clubs out there, let them fund it.
The NRL are a bunch of outright hypocrites, RL is almost dead in the country and they don't send a single cent out there.
But no lets put money to an area that already has alot of RL money and ignore the places that really need it.

The reason that the numbers are reducing is because the NRL only are about first grade and corporate sponsors, no one else

So true. They crap on about the 'grassroots' of the game being important but they do nothing to help out. All they are wondered about is the end product. Pretty soon we will be the same as rugby in Australia. They ignored the junior levels of the game, ploughed all their money into super rugby, the ARC and the Wallabies and now they are the 4th ranked footy code in Australia. Out here in the bush, it will be the 3rd time in 5 years that my local side can't form an under 16's team. We used to be the strongest junior league in the group and would regularly have over 300 kids registered to play from 6's to 16's. Now we can't get kids to play the game. They paper over the cracks by starting up girl's competitions and the bean counters can then hide the fall in rego's because they all of a sudden have a new market that has opened up. I really fear for the future of our game with the way it's being run at the moment.

[ism22]

Hes right about the age thing,When i was coming thru the schoolboys comp in PNG they changed to a weight based schoolboys comp although the main reason was probably most didn't have a birth certificate and you were playing against some schoolboys with beards but it worked ok.I remember playing NSW in under 9 stone7 a couple of times so they must have been using the weight system then in Australia.

TBH that would help players who shoot up early too. I was never gonna be all that big but was ~183cm aged 12 (I'm still about that height give or take). Few were my size so I was used as a both a battering ram and a workhorse forward.

By the age of 16 everybody had caught up with me and I was a classic winger/fullback build (national level sprinter too, so speed was my strength). About that age they started playing me at fullback. Not saying I ever woulda been anything amazing, but IMO the fact I'd been earmarked as a front rower from a young age really hurt my ability to click as a fullback. I had all the physical attributes, but my ball skills were lacking because the focus had been on 'pass it to Jizzy and he'll do a massive hit-up' until opponents started going 'why do they keep expecting that skinny white guy to smash through the middle of the field?'

IMO a focus on skills from a young age rather than wasting players (who may or may not grow bigger) as battering rams would be better. Guys my height/weight can play in the NRL (and in the front row - Moa's no taller than me) but playing people 1/2 your size makes you develop a lazy 'barge through everybody' style that isn't realistic when you get to higher levels.

[Rooster_6]

Big ****ing whoop.
There are plenty of leagues clubs out there, let them fund it.
The NRL are a bunch of outright hypocrites, RL is almost dead in the country and they don't send a single cent out there.
But no lets put money to an area that already has alot of RL money and ignore the places that really need it.

The reason that the numbers are reducing is because the NRL only are about first grade and corporate sponsors, no one else

'The battle for the west' is as much about PR as it is anything else.

To be seen losing that battle would be disastorous for Greenturd and Grants career. That's the reality of it because you are right the contempt shown towards CRL is a joke. The farce that the CvC game has turned in to today just highlights the absence of real leadership curently in the game.

[ism22]

'The battle for the west' is as much about PR as it is anything else.

To be seen losing that battle would be disastorous for Greenturd and Grants career. That's the reality of it because you are right the contempt shown towards CRL is a joke. The farce that the CvC game has turned in to today just highlights the absence of real leadership curently in the game.

I'd say a large part of the problem is that the NRL CEO is just a tool to fox.

The drama that ensued when the previous CEO stood up to Murdoch was EPIC!!! Murdoch chucked a spaz because it coulda meant the end of Fox in Australia. Murdoch paid like $100m for AFL (peanuts), chucked a spaz and got the NRL CEO sacked for doing deals with FTA. Fox then quiety got all the TV rights and will do a couple of seasons without ads now (before reintroducing them).

The Bunker's a Murdoch/Super League invention. It's what Fox wants! When we can get a CEO who puts the game above ludicrous contracts then it will start improving again.

IMO the NRL should:
- Sever such exclusive ties with Fox and announce that their direction is FTA. Fox can pay BIG money for things like Origin.
- Can the bunker and quit the propaganda about how good it is. Make a press statement saying 'we listened to fans and it wasn't popular...'
- Have more games at local stadiums (bugger Homebush being 1/5 full for round games) and focus on getting people to games. Set standards for entertainment...etc rather than the size of stadiums.
- Cull a few teams and build a 2nd Brisbane team.
- Make a better website and better web content (spend more than $2 on it). Tell fox that online content rather than Fox is their future direction.
- NEVER again put themselves in a position where they own teams that they are systematically pumping up for sale.
- Refuse gambling sponsorship
- Lifetime ban for ANY illegal drug or DV conviction. Parents wanna know their kids won't be snorting crack and drinking heavily if they play rugby league. Sport should be able health, skills and fun... not booze, smokes, coke, gambling and politics.
- Do a better gameplay show. It's seriously hard for newcomers to watch rugby league (and follow without a tackle count and commentator)

[Vasco]

So what's the strategy?

[Kelby]

Don't talk about the East............................... ern Suburbs.